"if America is to be a great nation (Yes), this must become true" (video)

Take a few minutes to listen to, or read, the "I have a dream" speech given by Martin Luther King in August of 1963.

"Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. (My Lord, No, no, no, no) [applause] We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline."

The full text of the speech can be found here: https://freedomsring.stanford.edu/?view=Speech

 

 

Joe Jencks Leads First Universalist Society MLK Service - Jan 14

Joe Jencks, international touring musician, award-winning songwriter and celebrated vocalist will lead the service on January 14 at FUSF as we celebrate the life and legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. All are invited to join us this morning. 

Joe Jencks Leads First Universalist Society MLK Service - Jan 14

The First Universalist Society in Franklin (FUSF) is a Unitarian Universalist Welcoming Congregation located at 262 Chestnut Street, Franklin. For more information, please contact us at info@fusf.org or call 508-528-5348.

First Universalist Society in Franklin (FUSF)

262 Chestnut Street, Franklin MA 

January 14, 2024 @ 10:00 AM

Remembering Martin Luther King Jr, an excerpt from his last public speech (video)

An excerpt from the speech Martin Luther King Jr gave to striking sanitation workers the day before he was killed. 

Video link -> https://youtu.be/Oehry1JC9Rk   (2 minutes, 37 seconds)

More of excerpts from his key speeches can be found in this PBS posting: 

https://www.pbs.org/weta/washingtonweek/article/2018/04/5-of-martin-luther-king-jrs-most-memorable-speeches

DPW Notice: No Curbside Trash/ Recycling Delay scheduled for the week of January 16, 2023

Notice from the Department of Public Works: There will be NO curbside trash or recycling delay the week of January 16, despite the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday.

Shared from DPW page -> https://www.franklinma.gov/home/news/dpw-notice-no-curbside-trash-recycling-delay-week-january-16th

DPW Notice: No Curbside Trash/ Recycling Delay scheduled for the week of January 16, 2023

MA State News Roundup: MLK monument; Wu leaves Twitter; cannabis pricing plummets

(1) Today "The Embrace" is scheduled to be unveiled on the Boston Common. Good timing for the Martin Luther King Jr holiday weekend. This will be a new excuse for a day trip into Boston on a good weather day.

Boston Globe article (subscription may be required)

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/01/12/arts/embrace-is-tribute-love-justice-unsung/

Commonwealth Magazine article

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/raceracism/healey-calls-king-statue-important-given-bostons-narrative/

Artist Hank Willis Thomas, who conceived "The Embrace," is seen in his studio in Brooklyn, N.Y. JENNIFER S. ALTMAN

(2) CommonWealth Magazine runs a headline "Citing increasingly toxic climate, Michelle Wu turns away from Twitter"

A sad state of affairs for anyone using social media tools these days. You can read the full article here -> https://commonwealthmagazine.org/politics/citing-increasingly-toxic-climate-michelle-wu-turns-away-from-twitter/

(3) Common Wealth Magazine also provides some insights into the cannabis market. Why does this matter to Franklin? Given the change in the host community agreements, the Town of Franklin is still schedule to get a percentage of the revenues from cannabis sales and we have both growth facilities as well as retails facilities. With the budget cycle starting, these changes will perhaps show up in a lesser amount anticipated on the revenue sheet.

"ON A RECENT DAY, a Brockton customer looking for some marijuana could have bought one-eighth of an ounce of LA Kush Cake flower for just $20 at Commonwealth Alternative Care. Nearby, Legal Greens was advertising one-eighth of an ounce of Jet Fuel flower for $25, according to the marijuana marketing website Leafly.

The prices are way down from the $50 or $60 that a decent strain of marijuana was going for just two years ago. That’s good news for consumers tired of paying some of the highest prices for marijuana in the nation, but it’s bad news for the state’s legal marijuana industry. Just four years after cannabis shops opened, the price decline is destabilizing the industry and threatening to force companies out of business. Policy makers are being urged to consider radical action, including placing a moratorium on the granting of new cultivation licenses."

Continue reading the article ->

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/marijuana/plummeting-prices-destabilize-mass-marijuana-market/

Notice: Franklin Municipal Building & Franklin Public Library CLOSURE - January 16, 2023

Franklin Municipal Building CLOSURE 

Franklin Public Library CLOSURE

- January 16, 2023

The Franklin Municipal Building and Franklin Public Library will be CLOSED on Monday, January 16, 2023 in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday. Both buildings will reopen on Tuesday, January 17, 2023.

Shared from -> https://www.franklinma.gov/home/news/franklin-municipal-building-closure-january-16th-2023

and ->  https://www.franklinma.gov/franklin-public-library/news/franklin-public-library-closed-martin-luther-king-jr-day

Franklin Public Library Closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day

MLK: "We must rapidly begin the shift from a 'thing-oriented' society to a 'person-oriented' society"

Martin Luther King Jr said: 

“I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a “thing-oriented” society to a “person-oriented” society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.

A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies. On the one hand we are called to play the good Samaritan on life’s roadside; but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life’s highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.” 

From “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence” speech, given at a meeting of Clergy and Laity Concerned at Riverside Church in New York City, April 4, 1967

https://www.ucc.org/mlk-resources-2022-join-the-movement/

As "content in context" is important, you can listen to and read the full text of this speech here -> https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkatimetobreaksilence.htm

Martin Luther King, Jr. "Beyond Vietnam -- A Time to Break Silence"